AESTS AXD EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



ORDER— TUBINARE5 : rUBE = NOSED 

 SWIMMERS. 



FAMILY— PROCELLAKllD.E : PETRELS. 



Sub-family — OcEANiTiN^ai : Storm Tethels. 



80cj 



661. OCEANITES OCEANICUS, Kulll. (QA.&) 



YELLOW-WEBBED STORM PETREL. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii., pi. 65. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxv., p. 35S. 



Previous Deccriplions 0/ Eggs. — Saunders; Trans. Koy. Soc, vol. 

 clxviii., p. 164 (1878) ; Hall : Ibis, p. 20 (1900;. 



Geographical Distribution. — Seas of South Queensland, New South 

 Wales, Victoria, South and West Australia and Tasmania; also New 

 Zealand, from the Ice Barrier in the Antarctic Ocean to the Atlantic as 

 far north as the British Isles and the coast of Labrador, and the Indian 

 Ocean up to the Ai'abian Sea. 



Nest. — A shallow indentation beneath a stone or witliin a crevice, 

 hned with twigs ( AzoreUa). Dimensions over all, 5 to 7 inches by 5 

 inches in depth (Hall). 



Kij'js. — Clutch, one ; almost an ellipse in shape ; texture of shell, 

 thin and fine ; surface without gloss ; colour, white, witli minute purplish- 

 brown spots, usually in the foi-m of a zone roimd the upper quarter. 

 Dimensions in inches of specimens from Kerguolen Islands : (1) 1-29 x -91, 

 (2) 1-28 X -88, (3) 1-25 X -9. These eggs are probably the smallest of 

 all Petrels'. 



Observations. — This little tenant of the ocean is chiefly found in the 

 Southern seas, down to the ice baiTier ; but is also found in the northern 

 hemisphere, especially in the Atlantic. 



According to Gould, the Yellow-webbed Storm Petrel is one of the 

 most abundant of its tribe inliabiting Australiaai seas. He observed it 

 in gi-eat numbers within sight of the Tasmanian shores, and sliot several 

 specimens during his passage from Hobart to Sydney, April, 1839. 



Concerning this gi-aceful Uttle bird on land (Kergueien's), the 

 Rev. A. E. Eaton wrote : " At length ( ? end of November), when we 

 went to Tliiunb Peak, their mode of nesting was discovered. Carefidly 

 watching, with Lieut. GoO-dridge, R.N., the birds flying to and fro about 

 the rocks, we observed that they occasionally disappeared into the 

 crevices amongst the piles of loose stones, and crept under loose masses 

 of rock. Having meanwhile ascertained their call, we were able to 



